Storm dumps six inches of heavy, wet snow

April 20, 2011|By Chris Engle, HT Staff Writer

OTSEGO COUNTY— Six inches of wet snow fell across the area late Tuesday and overnight during a post-season storm that will wind down today (Wednesday).

Jeff Halblaub, meteorologist at the National Weather Service south of Gaylord, said six inches of snow was measured at his office. Elmira saw 5.5 inches of snow. Later into the storm, drier snow and wind caused some blowing and drifting. Area schools were also closed Wednesday, and extra curricular events were canceled Tuesday night.

Another inch or so of snow is expected today.

“The heaviest part of the storm is over,” Halblaub assured.

Tom Deans, manager of the Otsego County Road Commission, said some of his crew were working overtime last night to keep M-32, I-75 and other main roadways cleared of snow. He said the heavy snow is hard on the trucks, which need to burn more fuel to push it out of the way.

Advertisement

“We have everybody out there cleaning things up,” Deans said. “We hope this is the last one.”

The snow will stick around through today, but will start breaking up as temperatures creep back into the upper-40s by Friday. Normal temps in the mid-50s will return for the weekend, with a 70-degree day in our future next week.

Halblaub said the bright side of the storm is the .6 inches of liquid precipitation it brought to the area.“We definitely need it because we’ve been abnormally dry for the past two years,” he said. The last month with above-normal precipitation was September.